I lost a stone in my engagement ring.

If you caught my previous post, you know I have dove in headfirst lately into the world of “heritage cooking.”

This has only continued to excite me more! Over the weekend, I made my first successful batch of chocolate chip sourdough pancakes (with help). Not to mention, I began the 4-month process of making vanilla extract. On August 1, I will have lots of good vanilla extract. Ironically, the process just involves Mason jars, vodka and vanilla beans. I used Madagascar beans and they smelled heavenly through their packaging.

Another experience I got a couple nights ago was cooking stove-top in a cast iron skillet for the first time. My parents have a glass-top stove so I hadn’t gotten the chance to do that before. I am in LOVE. My fiancé’s house has a non glass-top stove, so I will be in for a treat when I move in come September.

I have yet to make my cheese, kombucha, or tempeh, but I think I will begin the process of kombucha making fairly soon.

I have watched more of the Heritage Cooking Crash Course I purchased a few weeks ago and have just fallen further in love with the content! I have learned the simple process of making maple sugar from maple syrup and making butter in a food processor. The kitchen is my oyster!

I turned 26. Yes, you read that right. 26. Everyone in the office had a Chipotle lunch on my birthday. Nobody sang and nobody ate cake. I was very pleased. My fiancé and my parents took me to a Japanese steak house for a nice hibachi dinner. The chef we had gave me MAJOR side-eye when he read that I wasn’t going to be eating meat.

Jonathan gave me a book I’d been wanting for a long time now, Just Jessie by Jessie James Decker. I read it within a day and a half. She’s my girl!

I have been doing pretty well with songwriting so far this year. I have written a song for each month. My March song was by far some of my best work, if not the best. It’s also 100% a pop song, which is weird! I’m a sappy love song writer!

Being off social media is still frustrating sometimes, since NO, I did not see that viral dog video you posted… and also nobody got a notification for my birthday, therefore, some of my closest friends didn’t remember. However, I’m happier. That’s really the bottom line. The absolute BEST part of not being on social media is NO FACEBOOK MESSAGES! I cannot tell you how much I have loathed that app. It has been nothing but awkward! The people I want to contact me have my number. Facebook Messenger has been a place for awkward flirting from guys that have attended my church (where I WORK), people contacting me about work things that would be more appropriately addressed in an email, and just other random and uncomfortable nonsense. Rant over.

Now…for the tea.

This past Friday, March 29, Jonathan and I were scheduled to take engagement pictures in Virginia Beach, where our wedding photographer team is based out of. I had a morning of pampering. I got my nails done, which I was excited for. However, the manicurist RIPPED my cuticle, and it bled profusely. I’m used to manicurists cutting you a little bit sometimes, but this was next level. He painted around the cut, and I ended up with a lot of dried blood on the finger. I also didn’t get any lotion or a hand massage? I thought this was a standard part of the service. Bummer! I went home and used tweezers to scrape the dried blood away but it left a brown stain that took four days to come off. As I got in the car for Jonathan to take me to my hair appointment, he took out a microfiber cloth and wiped down my ring, only to realize a stone was missing! We had to leave, but he thoroughly searched his car and ultimately ended up going to Walmart during my appointment to get a decoy ring. I LOVED my decoy ring. I enjoyed getting my hair done too. Not to mention our photo shoot was fun and in a beautiful location.

Jonathan was able to take ring to the store where it was purchased and they will be getting it a new stone at no cost to us. Gotta love it.